Since the forming of the original group, more than
1,800 manufacturers around the world have joined
the initiative.  According to reports, the Bluetooth
technology is expected to be built into more than
100 million devices, with over 670 million enabled
Bluetooth devices.

Resulting from the amazing success of WAP (Wireless
Application Protocol), the adoption of smart phones
and hand held devices, Bluetooth can easily have
an amazing impact on your day to day life.  Bluetooth
is one of the key technologies that can help to
make the mobile information society happen, by
blurring the possibilities between home, the office,
and the outside world.

The seamless integration and connectivity that
Bluetooth promises will make it possible to explore
a wide range of interactive and highly transparent
personalized services which were actually quite
difficult to dream of simply because of the
complexity involved with making such devices
communicate with each other.

Many Bluetooth pilot products have already been
rolled into the market and backed by big vendors,
which is a healthy sign for the overall acceptance
of the technology.  The support for Bluetooth isn’t
limited to companies that develop only Bluetooth
enabled products.

The applications for Bluetooth can have great
impacts on other industries as well.  The adoption
of Bluetooth technology is expected to spread
throughout the industry of computers.

Unlike infrared technology, Bluetooth is used by
many different wireless devices.  Bluetooth offers
exceptional quality for short range wireless, even
going through walls and obstructions.  While
infrared is the biggest competitor at this time,
Bluetooth far surpasses it, proving to millions that
it is the wireless communication technology of the
present day and age.

In the beginning, Bluetooth started with version 1.0,
then gradually moved from there.  The current
version is 2.0+EDR, with another version currently
in development.  The technology behind the Bluetooth
specification always getting better and better,
which is why it’s so popular.

In the future, you can expect the technology
behind Bluetooth to get better.  Bluetooth has
proven to be the wireless standard of the future,
offering you wireless connectability for hundreds
of different devices.  For cell phones or other forms
of wireless connections, Bluetooth is the one
technology that you don’t want to find yourself
without.

Related posts:

1. Bluetooth Technical Operations
2. Bluetooth And Infared
3. Choosing A Bluetooth Headset

Bluetooth headsets can never be as small or as light
as wired headsets, simply because it needs to include
the battery and extra functions. This extra size
will impact how the headset mounts on or around
your ears.

Comfort
There seems to be two main styles of headsets for
Bluetooth.  Some are held into place with a loop
around the ear.  These styles are normally more
comfortable, although they may be less secure.  The
others are held in place by being jammed into
your ear – and usually prove to be less comfortable.

Factors to consider

Cost
The cost is an obvious issue, something that you
really need to think about.

Ergonomics
1.  Check to see if the device is easy to
quickly and conveniently put on your ear then take
it off again.
2.  Are the control buttons on the headset
easy to use?
3.  The headset should be comfortable to
wear for long phone calls.
4.  Can you use it with a pair of glasses?
5.  Check to see if you can wear it with
either ear.
6.  When you aren’t wearing it, you’ll
need to se how you would carry it with you.
7.  The weight is important as well, as you
don’t want something that has the risk of falling
off.

Ease of use.
1.  The commands and controls should be
easy to remember.
2.  The volume level should be easy to
adjust.
3.  The unit should turn on quickly.
4.  The manual should be very well written
and easy for you to understand.
5.  There should be a support number for
you to call if you should experience any types of
problems.

Features
1.  You’ll need to know about the battery,
the talk time, type, and how to tell when it is
going dead or fully charged.
2.  How many devices can the unit be paired
with?
3.  Compatability is also important, as
well as the warranty period.
4.  Check the sound quality for both
sending and receiving audio.
5.  What type of range does the headset offer
you?

Other important capabilities include voice tags,
last number redial, tranfer calls, 3 way calling,
link to other phones, call reject, and mute.  You’ll
also want to note if it looks attractive, and if
it’s too big or too small.

Related posts:

1. Bluetooth Wireless Networking
2. Bluetooth Security
3. Bluetooth And Infared

The class 2 devices are lower power, offering up
to 2.5 mW of power. A regular antenna will give
them a range of around 50 – 100 feet.  Class 3
devices use even less power, up to 1 mW of power
to be exact.  With a regular antenna, they will
have a range of around 16 – 33 feet.

Even though you may not realize it, Bluetooth
wireless technology has never been intended for
anything other than short distance types of
communication. With Bluetooth wireless, the short
range is actually a benefit.

For one, the short range will reduce the change of
interference between your devices and those that
belong to others who are nearby.  Overall, this
is a basic type of security, designed to protect
you and your devices.

Secondly, the lower power used for short range
means a longer battery life.  Most Bluetooth
devices will get their power from a battery,
meaning that anything you can do to lengthen the
battery life is very important.

The wireless networking offered by Bluetooth is
actually among the best, even though it uses
short range communication.  Bluetooth is used
with wireless controllers, the internet, and
even wireless headsets.

For the best in short range technology, Bluetooth
is extremely hard to beat.  If you’ve never tried
Bluetooth before, now is the time.  It’s the best
with wireless networking, especially for those
who enjoy hands free talking on their cell phone.

Related posts:

1. Choosing A Bluetooth Headset
2. Bluetooth Technical Operations
3. The Future Of Bluetooth

The good news for Bluetooth users is that the
security scares, like most scares, are normally over
dramatized and blown entirely out of proportion.  The
truth being told, these issues are easy to manage,
with various measures already in place to provide
security for Bluetooth technology.

It’s true that there has been some Bluetooth phones
that have been hacked into.  Most devices that are
hacked into are normally those that don’t have any
type of security at all.

According to Bluetooth specialists, in order to hack
into a Bluetooth device, the hacker must:
1.  Force two paired devices to break their
connection.
2.  Steal the packets that are used to
resend the pin.
3.  Decode the pin.

Of course, the hacker must also be within range of
the device, and using very expensive developer type
equipment.  Most specialists recommend that you
have a longer pin, with 8 digits being recommended.

Fundamentals of security
The “pairing process” is one of the most basic levels
of security for Bluetooth devices.  Pairing, is
two or more Bluetooth devices that recognize each
other by the profiles they share – in most cases
they both must enter the same pin.

The core specifications for Bluetooth use an
encryption algorithm, which is completely and entirely
secure.  Once the devices pair with each other,
they too become entirely secure.

Until they have successfully paired, the Bluetooth
devices won’t communicate with each other.  Due to
this pairing process and the fact that it is short
range – Bluetooth technology is considered to be
secure.

As the news has indicated, experienced hackers
have developed ways to get around this level of
basic security.  There are ways to get around this
threat, as you can install software to prevent
hackers from getting in.

With Bluetooth becoming more and more popular, it’s
really no wonder that security is always in
question.  As Bluetooth gets bigger and better,
security will always be something that no one
really takes lightly.

If you’ve been concerned about Bluetooth security
in the past, rest assured that newer devices will
offer bigger and better security.  Preventing
hackers from getting in is something every owner
is concerned about – and the manufacturer’s are
very aware.

Related posts:

1. Choosing A Bluetooth Headset
2. Bluetooth And Infared
3. Bluetooth Wireless Networking

These parts will communicate through light beams,
lasers, radio signals, and infrared.  The problem
however, is the devices and technology is often the
connection between each component.  Therefore, most
electronic systems aren’t used to their full extent
due to the problems and imperfections.

To help simplify things, a solution was created -
the solution of Bluetooth.  Bluetooth is wireless
and automatic, offering users a variety of features
that have simplified the art of connection.  Bluetooth
has revolutionized the standard methods of connecting
things to enabling almost anything to be connected
to a single system.

Aside from Bluetooth, there are other ways of
connecting wireless devices.  One example of such
is the IR or infrared.  Infrared allows low frequency
light waves to transmit signals to another component.
This technology is easy to create and the cost of
putting the IR device into a system is rather low.

Infrared technology is a one to one process.  Due
to the limitation, you may only send signals from one
device to another, similar to a television set and
remote control.  You can only transmit signals
between the two although not with a seperate system.

Aside from the fact that these two natures of
infrared are obstacles to acquiring results, these
same qualities have worked in advantage to the
connection.  Infrared devices need to be lined up
directly, meaning too little interference can occur
between the transmitters and receivers.

The technology behind Bluetooth works by transmitting
signals through low frequency radio signals.  The
path of communication is working on 2.45 GHz, which
is the same frequency band used in ISM devices.

Related posts:

1. Bluetooth Technical Operations
2. Bluetooth Security
3. Choosing A Bluetooth Headset

Current prototype circuits are contained on a board
that is 0.9 cm square, with a much smaller circuit
board being developed.

When one Bluetooth device comes in contact with
another, they will automatically exchange addresses
and details of capability.  Then, they can establish
a 1 MB link with security that they will use as
required.  The protocols involved with handle both
data and voice, with a very flexible topography.

The technology achieves its goal by embedding tiny,
non expensive short range tranceivers into the
devices available today.  The radio operates on the
2.45 GHz frequency band, and supports up to 721
KBps, along with three voice channels.

Each devices offers a unique 48 bit address from
the IEEE 802 standard, with the connections being
point to point or multipoint. The max range is
10 meters, although it can be extended to 100
meters by increasing the power.  The devices are
also protected from radio interference by changing
their frequencies, also known as frequency hopping.

What’s important, is the fact that Bluetooth
devices won’t drain battery life.  The specification
targets power consumption of the device, limiting
the drain on the battery.  The radio chip will
consume only 0.3mA in stand by mode, which is less
than 5% of the power that standard phones use.

Bluetooth will also guarantee security at the bit
level.  The authentification is controlled by the
user via a 128 bit key.  The radio signals can
be coded with anything up to 128 bit.  With the
frequency hopping, Bluetooth is already very
hard to listen into.

The baseband protocol is a combination of both
circuit and packet switches.  Slots can be reserved
for synchronous packets as well.  Each packet
will be transmitted in a different hop frequency.
Normally, a packet covers a single slot although
it can be extended to cover up to five slots.

Bluetooth can also support data channels of up to
three simultaneous voice channels.  Therefore,
it’s possible to transfer the data while you talk
at the same time.  Each individual voice channel
will support 64 KB.

From a technical standpoint, Bluetooth is very
different indeed.  It’s the best wireless method
in the world, surpassing even infrared.  For
communication on the go, Bluetooth is indeed
very hard to compete with.

Related posts:

1. Bluetooth And Infared
2. Bluetooth Wireless Networking
3. Bluetooth Security